Signal and communication mechanism for sunken submarines



pfi 1, 1930.- H. c. STANGER 1,753,139

SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES Filed July 15,192 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I I I t l I I I Inventor April 1930- I H. c.STANGER 1,753,139

SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES Fi y 1928 aSheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Attornqy April 1, 1930. H. c. STANGER SIGNAL ANDCOMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES Filed July 15, 1928 8Shegs-Sheet I flrmavz'asian er y Attorney Inventor 8 She ets-Sheet H. C.STANGER Filed July 15, 1928 SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FORSUNKEN SUBMARINES firm an 655.27 0

April 1,- 1930.

p i 1, 1930. H. c. STANGER V l ,753,l39

SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES Filed July 15,1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor Attornqy April 1, 1930. H.c. STANGER1,753,139

SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES Filed'July 13.1928 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Inventor 15 6 7722 all 6' siege? Attorney April 1,1930. H. c. STANGER SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKENSUBMARINES 8 Sheets-Sheei Filed July 15 1928 April 1, 1930. 'H. c.STANGER' SIGNAL AND COMMUNICATION MECHANISM FOR SUNKEN SUBMARIN ES FiledJuly 15 1928 8 Sheets-Sheet flerma/n 6 Sid/2? er Patented Apia-1, 1930uuireo stares HERMAN o. STANGER, or FORT ANN, NEW'YORK SIGNAL ANDCOMMUNICATION MEcnAnIsM ron suivxniv suiaMARruns Application filed July13,

The present invention relates to an apparatus for useupon submarineswhereby the submarines may signal vessels on the surface of the waterand telephone or radio corn- ,5 munication may be held between thevessels onthe surface of the water and a disabled submarine on thebottom.

A very important object of the invention resides in the provision of anapparatus of IQ this nature which is exceedingly simple in itsconstruction, inexpensive to manufacture and 25 and a cable attachedthereto, and means n the submarine whereby the buoy may be let up byunwinding the cablefrom a drum or winch and means whereby the drum orwinch may be easily controlled. r I

A stillfurther very important object of the invention residesintheprovision of a submarine with a casing interiorly thereof and acover for the casing forming part ofthe outside of the submarine, saidcasing housing 35 the reel anda buoy controllable by a cable attachedthereto and windable on the reel.

, Another very important object of the invention resides in efficientand effective means for holding the coverof the casing water tight 40 ina closedposition and permitting quick and easy release thereof in 'aconvenientmanner. WVith the above and'numerous other objects in view aswill appear as the description-proc'e'eds, the invention resides incertain novel 46 features of construction, and in the combina- 192s.Serial m5. 292,431.

tion and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a sunken submarine and a vessel on top ofthe Water showing my improved apparatus in use to provide telephonicconnection between the vessel and the submarine, p g V Figure 2 isafragm'entary longitudinal section through the submarine at the bow endthereof showing my improved apparatus mounted therein,

Figure 3 is a transverse section showing the apparatus disclosed inFigure 2,

Figure 4 is a section taken substantially on the line 4 4 of Figure 3, Ip I Figureo is a section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure2,

Figure '6 is an'enlarged detail section showing the means for holdingthe cover plate closed,

a Figure 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the reel structure, 7V

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail transverse section throughthe hingestructure for the cover, v V

t Figure 9 is arr-enlarged detail viewshowiing the gearing for operatingthe measuring mechanism to indicate the amount of cable which is led offthe reel,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of the submarine sl'iowingparticularly my improved apparatus with the cover in an open position,Figure 11 is a detail through the buoy,

v Figure 12 is an enlarged detail fragmentary elevation of the lowerportion of the vertical section buoy, and

Figure 13 is an enlarged detail section taken substantially on the line1313of Figure .11. V t I Referring to the drawing in detailit will beseen that the numeral 5 denotes generally a ,sub'marine'which may be ofany preferred or conventional structure. This submarine 5 is provided inits top preferably adjacent its bow with an opening 6.

A flange 7 is secured to the top of the submarine 5 interiorly thereofto extend along three sides of the opening and support gasket 8. A hingemember 9 is supported along the other side of the opening at its rearside thereof in the present illustration of the invention and is formedwith a socket 10 and has a flange 11 for supporting the adjacent portionof the gasket 8. i

The socket 10 is divided by partitions 11 and a pintle 12 is rockablethrough the par titions 11 and is fixed by members l4 to a cover 15 toclose the opening 6 and rest on the gasket 8.

A shaft 16 is rotatable in ears 17 depending from the hinge member 9 andhas sprockets 18 on the ends thereof over which are trained chains 19.Gears 20 are fixed on the shaft 16 inwardly of the sprockets and meshwith pinions 21 on the ends of the pintle 12.

Brackets 22 rising from the bottom of the submarine or a compartmentthereof have journaled in their upper ends ashaft 23 with sprockets 24thereon over whichthe chains 19 are trained and hand wheels 25are'provided at the ends of the shaft 23.

Obviously by turning the hand wheels 25 the shaft 16 may be rotated andthe pintle 12 rocked to swing the closure 15 either to an open or closedpositionas desired.

A casing denoted generally by the letter C includes connected side walls26, a bottom 27 and an outwardly extending continuous top flange 28disposed under the flange 7 and having a portion extending to a groove29 of the hinge member 9. 1 beams 30 are disposed under the flange 28and the hinge member 9 as is indicated in Figure 5. I

Brackets 32 extend from a pair of opposed side walls 26 so that the endsof the shaft 16 maybe journaled therein. A drain cook 33 is engaged inthe bottom 27 A pair of rods 34 are slidable through bearings 35 andgland nut 36 in the bottom 27 and. through bear'ngs projecting inwardlyfrom one of the sde walls against the upper:

edge thereof. The upper ends of these rods are threaded to engage in thethreaded recess bosses 38 on the free end of the cover 15.

Stop collars 39 are fixed to the rods to engage with the bearings 37.Stop collars 40 are also provided on the rods to engage with thebearings 35 to limit the downward movement of the rods 34 when they aredisengaged from the bosses 38 and to prevent the threaded ends frompassingdownwardly all the way through the bearing 37.

Hand wheels 41 are provided at the lower end of the rod. Thus it will beseen that these rods may be threaded and unthreaded for se-. curing orreleasing the cover respectiv'elyto a locked or unlocked position.

A reel is mounted in the casing C and includes a shaft 45 journaled inanti-friction bearings 46 and 47 mounted in opposed side walls 26 of thecasing. Oiling means 48 leads through the side walls to these bearings.Sides 49 are provided on the shaft to com-. plete the reel. The end ofthe reel through the bearing 46 is provided. with a longitudinallyextending passage 50 terminating in an offset end 51.

A hand wheel 52 is provided on this end of the reel shaft exteriorly ofthe casing. A gland nut 53 is engaged over this end of the shaft. A gear55 is mounted on the shaft 45 adjacent the bearing 46. An electric cable56 is wound about the shaft 45 between the sides 49 and has a suitablenumber of electric conductors extending therethrough.

The gearing 57 is meshed with the gear 55 and operatesthe shaft of ameasuring mechanism 58 mounted on a bracket 59 to the outside ofone ofthe side walls so as to indicate the amount of cable led off from thereel.

Abuoy is denoted generally by the letter B and includes a bottom section60, a top section 61 and a supplemental section 62. The sections 60 and61 are secured together by flanges 63 and '64 which may be welded orotherwise secured together. A transverse or diametrically disposed bar65 is carried by the section 60.

The section 62 extends .over a disk top 66 in the section 61 and has abell 67 suspended therein for producing an audible signal. Brackets 68depend from the section 60 and rotatably support a cylinder 69 andhaving a spiral exterior groove 70 therein. A clamp 71 is providedon thesection 60 adjacent the cylinder 69. i A stuiflng box inlet 72 isprovided in the bottom of the section 60 for the cable from the reelwhich is wrapped about the cylinder 69 in the groove 70 and engaged inthe clamp 71. This cylinder acts as a snubber so as to take up any shockand the like.

The cable extends up through a. clamp 74 supported by the bar 65and'into a heat terminal box 75 having a suitable number of terminals 76therein connected with'the electric conductors of the'cable. An opening77 is formed in'thebox 75 and is normally plugged up to prevent theingress of water into the box but when the buoy has reached the surfacethe plug is replaced by a gasket 7 8 so that the cable 7 9 from therescue vessel 88 may be inserted therethrough and have its conduitsengaged with the terminals 76.

The vinner end of the cable is extended through the passage 50, outthrough the end of the shaft 45 having a hand wheel 52 thereon and isnormally disconnected from telephones 80 in the submarine. The buoy hasa cylinder 81 thereon grooved similar to the the strain off theconnections provided by terminals 76.

Some side walls of the casing are provided wit-h windows 89 inorder thatthe contents of the casing may be seen from the exterior thereof. Thebuoy when in the casing rests on'springs 90 carried by brackets 91 onthe side walls of the casing. o

Assuming that the buoy is in the casing and the cable iswound on thereel and the cover is closed and that the submarine has become d1sabledand is in distress on the bottom of the water. It will be seen that thecrew may release the cover by turning the rods and then may open thecover by rotating the shaft 23. lVatei' will then rii'sh into the casingC and cause the buoy to float up to the surface of the water.

An attendant may control the speed of the rising of the buoy by means ofthe hand wheel 52 and can very readily tell when the buoy has reachedthe surface of the Water by the change of the speed of the let off fromthe reel and when the buoy has reached the top surface of the water thewheel 52 may be tied to a lug 95 by means of a chain or many othersuitable manner. The buoy will be prevent ed from floating away too far.The bobbing of the buoy on the surface of the water will naturallyringthe bell therein. If desired a radio set may be incorporated in thebuoy so that an SOS signal may be sent out.

lVhen the buoy is discovered by the rescue vessel 88 telephonicconnections are madetherewith as explained and telephonic connectionswill be made by the crew in the subi'na-v rine between the telephone andthe cable are suitable connections 96.

The cable is normally disconnected from the telephone to preventtwisting of the cable wh en the reel is unwinding.

It is thought that the construction, opera tion, utility and advantagesof this invention will now be quite apparent to those skilled in thisart without a more detailed description thereof. I

The present embodiment of the invention has been disclosed inconsiderable detail merely for the purposes of exemplification since inactual practice it will attain the features of advantage enumerated asdesirable in the statement of the invention and the above de-'script-ion. V v i It will be apparent that changes in the details ofconstruction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope or the inventionas hereinafter claimed or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In combination with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, a reeland a buoy housed in the casing, a cable wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy; a cover for the casing forming part of the wallof the submarine, means for hingedly mounting the;

tion of the hollow body, electrical connections in the box, a cableextending through the body connected with the connections, means foranchoring the cable ,interiorly of the body, stuffing box means throughwhich the cable extends through the bottom of the buoy, a clamp on thebottom of the buoy for the cable, brackets extending from the bottom ofthe buoy, a cylinder rotatable in the brackets and said cable beingwound thereabout.

3. A signal buoy of the class described including hollow body, a box onthe upper portion of the hollow body, electrical connections in the box,a cable extending through the body connected with the connections, meansfor anchoring the cable interiorily of the body, stuffing box meansthrough which the cable extends through the bottom of the buoy, a clampon the bottom of the buoy for the cable, brackets extending from thebottom of the buoy, a cylinder rotatable in the brackets and said cablebeing Wound thereabout, said cylinder having a spiral groove to receivethe cable.

4. A signal'buoy of the class described thereabout, said cylinder havinga spiral groove to receive the cable, said body being dished downwardlyat the top thereof, and a section over said downwardly dished top, and abell suspended from the section. I

5. In combination'with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, a reeland a'buoy' housed in the casing, a cable-wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy, a cover for the cas ng forming part of the-wallor the submarine, means for ningedly' mounting the cover chain and srocket means for 0 en ing and closing the cover, rods rotatably mountedin the caslng and accessible lnter or- 1 thereof and thereadedl en a'eable with y -b C: i

the cover to lock the same in a closed pos1 tion, means for lnniting theup'vvard and downward sliding movement of the rod, a

hand wheel exteriorly of the casing operativelyconnected with the reel,and a lug on the casing so that the hand wheel may be tied thereto.

6. In combination with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, a reeland a buoy housed in the casing, a cable wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy, a cover for the casing forming part of the wallof the submarine, means for hingedly mounting the cover, chain andsprocket means for opening and closing the cover, rods rotatably mountedin the casing and accessible interiorly thereof and threadedlyengageable with the cover to lock the same in a closed position, meansfor limiting the upward and downward sliding movement of the rod, a handwheel exteriorly of the casing operatively connected with the reel, anda lug on the casing so that the hand wheel may be tied thereto, ameasuring mechanism exteriorly of the casing, and gearing operativelyconnecting the measuring mechanism with the reel to ascertain the amountofcable let off from the reel, said reel including a shaft, one end ofwhich is provided with a longitudinal extending passage through whichthe cable extends, a telephone in the submarine with which the cable isengageable, and connections in the buoy with which the cable isconnected, said cable housing electrical conductors, said buoy havingbrackets extending from the bottom thereof, a cylinder rotatable in thebrackets having a spiral groove therein, the cable being wrapped aboutthe cylinder in the groove to take the strain off the electricalconnection.

7. In combination with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, a reeland a buoy housed in the casing, a cable wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy, a cover for the casing forming part of the wallof the submarine, means for hingedly mounting the cover, chain andsprocket means for opening and closing the cover, rods rotatably mountedin the casing and accessibleinteriorly thereof and threadedly engageablewith the cover to lock the same in a closed position, means for limitingthe upward and downward sliding movement of the rod, a hand wheelexteriorly of the casing operatively connected with the reel, and a lugon the casing so that the hand wheelmay be tied thereto, a measuringmechanism exteriorly of the casing, and gearing operatively connectingthe measuring, mechanism with the reel to ascertain the amount of cablelet off from the reel, said reel including a shaft, one end of which isprovided with a longitudinal extending passage through which the cableextends, a telephone in the submarine with which the cable isengageable, and connections in the buoy with which the cable isconnected, said cable housing electrical conductors, said buoy havingbrackets extendingfrom the bottom thereof, a cylinder rotatable in thebrackets and having a spiral groove therein, the cable being wrappedabout the cylinder in the groove to take the strain OK the electricalconnection.

8. In combination with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, areel, and a buoy housed in the casing, a cable wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy, a cover for the casing forming part of the wallof the submarine, means for hingedly mounting the cover, chain andsprocket means for opening and closing the cover, rodsrotatably mountedin the casing and accessible interiorly thereof and threadedlyengageable with the cover to lock the same in a closed position, meansfor limiting the upwardly and downward sliding movement of the rod, ahand wheel exteriorly of the casing operatively connected with the reel,and a lug on the casing so that the hand wheel maybe tied thereto, ameasuring mechanism exteriorly of the casing, and gearing operativelyconnecting themeasuring mechanism with the reel to ascertain the amountof cable let off from the reel, saidreel including a shaft, one end ofwhich is provided with a longitudinal extending passage through whichthe cable extends, a telephone in 'the submarine with which the cable isengageable, and connections in the buoy with which the cable isconnected, said cable housing electricalconductors, said buoy havingbrackets extending from the bottom thereof, a cylinder rotatable in thebrackets and having a spiral groove therein, the cable being wrappedabout the cylinder in the groove to take the strain off the electricalconnection, a second spiral groove cylinder on the top of the buoy.

9. In combination with a submarine, of a casing in the submarine, a reeland a buoy housed in the casing, a cable wound about the reel andconnected with the buoy, a cover for the casing forming part of the wallof the submarine, means for hingedly mountreel to ascertain the amountof cable let otl' from the reel, said reel including a shaft, one end ofwhich is provided with a longitudinal extending passage through whichthe cable extends,a telephonein the submarine with which the cableisengageable, and connections in the buoy with which the cable isconnected, said cable housing electrical conductors, said buoy havingbrackets extending from the bottom thereofi a cylinder rotatable in thebracketsand having a spiral groove therein, the cable being Wrappedabout the cylinder in the groove to take the strain oil the electricalconnection, a second spiral groove cylinder on the top of the buoy, saidcasing having Windows in side Walls thereof.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

HERMAN C. STANGER.

